STLtoday.com has a talented creative services staff that can create ads for you. We are well-versed in STLtoday.com's guidelines and online recommendations. We're always researching new ad technologies that will best serve our advertisers. Let us develop a campaign that will work best for you.
Creative concepting and development of your ad campaign can be arranged through your sales representative.

Animation
  • Animation for floating overlay ads can run a maximum of 10 seconds.
  • Replay of a floating or overlay ad must be user-initiated with a "replay" button.
  • Animated .gifs and Flash ads of fixed in-page ads (like leaderboards or big ads) must be within the specifications for size limitations.
  • Any ad that plays over the content must have a close button.
  • Yahoo! Ads must follow Yahoo! Display Advertising Guidelines. Please contact your sales rep for the latest Yahoo! Guidelines.

Sound
Due to our large at-work audience, we recommend against using sound in most ads. Audio can be used for STLtoday.com advertisers in the following instances:
  • On advertisers' individual splash pages, audio can be used to enhance content and grab the user's attention.
  • Audio should only be used when it is integral to the information the user is seeking and adds to the user experience -- an example is audio on a movie trailer.
  • When audio is used, it must be user-initiated. For example, the user clicks on "sound on" button/text on the ad or rolls the cursor over the ad. Also, the ad needs to be placed so that it is obvious to the user that the audio is part of the ad. In other words, the ad must be visible to the user when the user hears the sound.
  • Ads with audio must always have a button that allows the user to turn off the sound.
Floating or Overlay Ads (TFAs)
  • We accept third-party vendor floating ads.
  • All creative executions must be approved by the Online Director.
If STLtoday.com Creative Services creates your floating ad:
  • Please allow at least 5 days for creation and 1 day for testing.
  • A brainstorming session must be set up first. Please see your sales rep to start this process. (If an agency or client provides the floating ad, this brainstorming session is not required)
  • Concept will be presented and approved by you before final execution of the Flash animation.
If you provide the creative, we need at least 3 days for creative approval & testing.
Rollover and Expandable Ads
  • The rollover or expanded window must be user-initiated by the cursor rolling over the ad. It must have a close button or automatically close after the curser leaves the ad.
Close Buttons
  • Any fixed in-page ads (like leaderboards or big ads) do not require close buttons.
  • Any floating or overlay ad must have a close button.
  • Pop-under ads can use the corner x of the ad window as the close button.
Frequency Caps
  • Frequency caps are imposed on all ads that interrupt editorial content. This includes floating/overlay ads, pop-unders, and interstitials. These frequency caps may vary by section.
  • Frequency caps may be initiated at advertiser request for campaigns.
  • All campaign-level frequency caps must be set through the STLtoday.com ad server.
Clicking to Other Web Sites
  • All ad click-throughs that load another web page will open in a new browser window.
  • All Flash ads should be saved to version 8 or lower and must contain the getURL(clickTAG,"_blank") command to click-through in a new browser window.
  • A click-through can open only one new browser window.
Ad Content
We value our readers and the trust they have bestowed upon us to present objective information in our news coverage. To that end, all advertisements will be clearly differentiated from editorial content through design or placement. All advertorial (content written by an advertiser) will be clearly marked with its source or sponsor, at a minimum in the byline.
  • All functionality visually implied in an ad must be working and not designed to deceive the user.
  • "Close" and "Skip Ad" buttons must work as labeled and cannot link to another web page.
  • STLtoday.com reserves the right to refuse any ad deemed to be fraudulent, misleading, abusive, indecent or vulgar.
Creative Submissions & Third-Party Code
  • All ads must be submitted to STLtoday.com for approval.
  • Advertisers using third-party ad technologies and ad serving must submit creative to STLtoday.com at least 3 business days prior to campaign start for creative approval and testing.
Flash Ads
  • Flash ads should be published in Flash 8 (or lower) to allow for maximum viewership.
  • Flash ads must have the clickTAG expression encoded. The clickTAG is the tracking code assigned by the ad server to the ad.
  • A default .gif ad should be submitted for visitors who don't have the Flash plug-in.
Online Political Advertising Policies
  • All Political/Advocacy advertising is PIA (Paid In Advance).
  • All Political/Advocacy advertising must identify the paid sponsor in every frame.
STLtoday.com may, in its sole discretion, edit, alter, omit, reject or cancel at any time any of Advertiser's promotions or advertising. Exceptions to any of these guidelines may be made at the discretion of the STLtoday.com Online Director.